Artificial parchment and method of making the same



Patented A... 27, 1926.

, UNITED STATES JOSEPH '1. VAN mm GBACHT, OF CAMPBELL, CALIFORNIA.

ARTIFICIAL PARCEMENT AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME.

30 Drawing.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH T. VAN one GRAGHT, a subject of the Queen of the Netherlands, residing at Campbell, in the county of. Santa Clara, State of California, have invented a new-and useful Artificial Parchment and Method of Making the Same, of which the following is a specification.

M invention relates to the art of making arti cial parchment. l Parchment, which is prepared skin, has been used from time immemorial where great permanence or Wearing qualities were desired, it being a common practice to engross important documents upon parchment which has been especially prepared therefor.

Parchment is open to certain objections.

Since it is built up entirely of animal tis-. sues and their included greases it is extremely susceptible to atmospheric conditions, warping, shrinking and becoming very brittle with age as may be easily seen from an inspection of the binding of old books or from an inspection of sheets of old manuscript.

The principal object of my invention is to produce an artificial parchment which will have many of the good qualities of the. genuine parchment with few of its disadvantages and which will closely resemble parchment in appearance. I

This artificial parchment is prepared in the following manner:

I prefer to use as a base Japanese vellum or a similar aper which is first thoroughly soaked in co (1 water. As a result of this soaking, some portions of the paper, which are more absorbent than others, are more thoroughly saturated with the water than the remainder of the paper. rated paper is then spread out upon a sheet of blotting paper or cloth or some other absorbent substance and is covered by a layer of such absorbent substance for the purpose of partially drying out the paper and particu arly for removing superfluous water therefrom.

The moistened paper is then covered with a varnish which is applied with a brush. The varnish must be free from oil and is preferably irregularly applied so The satu- Application filed March 15, 1922. Serial I0. 544,020.

thoroughly saturated with water take the varnish more readily than less water saturated parts since they are more porous. The result is that the coat of varnish is somewhat irregular, a portion of the paper having a heavy coating whereas the remainder has onl a light coating. This gives the paper t e appearance of natural parchment, the degree of resemblance depending upon the skill of the workman. T he (paper is then allowed to dry and, when drie as the stiff and brittle feeling of natural archment.

If it Is desired to roduce an old parchment effect, the dar blotches of the old parchment ma be produced by graphite which is rubbe into the paper before soakmg.

lVhile I prefer to use a Valspar varnish, it should be understood that there are several resinous materials which may be used if dissolved in a suitable evaporative solvent such as alcohol.

The final product consists of the cellu-l v lose of the pa er which is imbedded in and protected by t e resinous material. It is a well known fact that Egyptian papyrus, which is a long fibered paper, has given proof that a pure cellulose paper is extremely long lived. It is also a well known fact that cloth or paper which is thoroughly impregnated with resinous material is also extremely long lived, the impregnated cloth wrap ings of the Egyptian mummies being fOUIK practically unchanged after long periods of time.

I have found that the artificial archment produced by me'may used without treatment for ordinary printing purposes due-to the fact that it is free from grease and will take any standard ink without being treated beforehand as is necessary where real parchment is used. Such artificial parchment also takes both water and oil colors without preparation and may be used lUU so that: it will resist the surface wear. .At the same time, the varnish, if properly'applied, robs the paper of none of its flexiility. v

I claim as my invention: 1. A process of producing an artificial parchment which comprises soaking a paper in water and distributing resinous material over the surface of said paper while said paper is still wet. Y

2. An artificial parchment consisting of vellum paper having its fibres imbedded in, and protected by, oil-free varnish material irregularly distributed therethrough,' saidartificial parchment resembling natural 15 parchment in appearance.

3. An artificial parchment consisting of long-fibre vellum paper initially capable of an irregular absorption of moisture and having its fibres imbedded in and protected by oil-free varnish irregularly distributed over it, said artificial parchment resembling natural parchment in appe-aance.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto 'set my hand.at San Francisco, California, 25 this 2nd day of March, 1922.

JOSEPH T. VAN DER GRACHT. 

